Children’s Voices
Children were at the heart of the ‘Beyond School Gates’ project. In addition to traditional methods of research, including interviews and surveys, our team developed a series of visual content to better illustrate the issues that mattered most to children when it came to developing a welcoming community. This was part of a multi-stage animation project, where children talked more about the places that matter to them in their communities and why, and provided opportunities for our team to ask more questions about children’s views about their communities and how they contribute to these communities.
“Journeys has built my confidence in sharing stories.”
How do Children Represent Their Views of Community?
The infographic below represents the response from children in one of our animation workshops, focussing on key places that mattered to them in their communities. The focus of this animated project was to pull together key themes across the ‘Beyond School Gates’ project, including places children played and made friendships, some of the key challenges they experienced when it came to feeling like they belonged, and how they overcame these barriers.
Our finished animated project, ‘My Journey’, represents the children’s views about community—what makes it welcoming, and how can you begin to feel you belong in a new place. In addition to shaping the storyline and design of the animation, two of the children who participated in the project volunteered to be our voice actors. This creates an authentic feel that is specific to the NW of England.
For a deeper dive into the themes of our animation, you can read our Case Studies to learn more. These explore six of the key themes across our project, including cultural belonging, family, friendship, private wellbeing, public space, and school. We have used pseudonyms for the children discussed in our case studies and removed any personal identifying data in line with GDPR. All participating children also supplied a consent form with permission from a parent/carer, and had the right to withdraw at any point in our study, in line with ethical practices for working with children and young people.
“I got to share what I feel [by participating in Journeys]”
